1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to cooling an internal combustion engine.
2. Background Art
A cylinder block for an internal combustion engine is cast from a metal and includes a cooling jacket through which coolant is circulated to maintain acceptable temperatures. An acceptable temperature is one that is lower than the melting temperature of the material. It is desirable to maintain a temperature lower than that so that the structural integrity of the block is maintained. Furthermore, it is desirable to maintain a uniform temperature within the block to avoid differential expansion. Differential expansion can cause a block at ambient temperature that is dimensionally accurate to fall outside of acceptable tolerances. One measure employed to partially overcome the cooling problems is to provide a cooling slot in a bridge located between adjacent cylinders. Typically, there is no cooling jacket provided in the bridge area to retain sufficient strength. However, the distance between the combustion chamber and the nearest water jacket is great making it a difficult region to cool. To partially overcome this difficulty, it is known to provide a cooling slot in the bridge through which coolant flows. Typically, a cooling passage is provided between the water jacket in the block and the cooling slot. Such slots and passages impact the strength in the vicinity in which they are located.